


Under the Larches

by dieOtter



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 12:45:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6116878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dieOtter/pseuds/dieOtter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Dean go to a little town in Alaska to investigate the mysterious disappearances of young men. "Northern Exposure meets Slavic mythology" kind of thing...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Under the Larches

The early spring sun didn't give much warmth, but when it was beaming down on the black roof of the car, it felt almost like summer inside. Dean opened his eyes and immediately closed them again, blinded by the light. Finally, he brushed off the feeling of sleepiness and sat up, accidentally throwing the leather jacket that was covering him to the floor. Sam was still asleep in the back seat. The creaking door would have woken him inevitably, and Dean thought they had spent the night intensively enough to deserve some rest, so he stayed where he was, only reaching for a bottle of cola stuck under the seat. Feeling refreshed by the cool beverage, he stretched his muscles and shifted his position to avoid the bright sunrays dazzling him. He fixed his gaze on the landscape spreading in front of the Impala. The sun was already high in the sky, telling him without looking at his watch that they had slept most of the morning. The lake a couple of yards away was sparkling in the sun, snow-covered mountaintops reflecting in its waters, and trees encircling them moving lazily in the wind with a gentle rustling sound. Dean wasn't usually the one to pay much attention to the aesthetic value of the surroundings he worked in; this time though he had to admit that the landscape was breathtaking.

The regular breathing coming from the back of the Impala turned into a groan when Sam, trying to stretch in his sleep, hit the door with his head.  
“Mornin' Sunshine!” Dean grinned, turning to face his brother. “Nice day, isn't it?”  
“Ugh, now I know exactly how sardines in a can must feel,” groaned Sam in response, sitting up and massaging the hurting spot on his head.  
“You wouldn't if you'd respected the laws of nature and hadn't grown so friggin' big.” Without the risk of waking his brother now, Dean grabbed his jacket and opened the door. Cool air immediately filled the Impala and Sam moaned again, pulling the blanket up to his chin.  
“Close the door, it's friggin' cold!”  
“What did you expect? It's Alaska, man!”  
“Thank you, Captain Obvious!” muttered the younger of the brothers, eventually deciding to leave the snug but confined interior of the car. “What's the plan for today?” he asked, stretching his long limbs, hoping to get the circulation flowing again despite having spent the whole night in the backseat of the Impala.  
“We don't have much to do right now. The nymph won't show up till sunset anyway.”  
“As if it was so different after the sunset,” Sam snorted.  
“Aw, someone here got up on the wrong side of the bed today,” laughed Dean, siting down on the hood of his precious car.  
“You planning to stay here?” asked Sam with surprise.  
“Why not? There's only a couple of hours left till the dusk, we've been sleeping so long. We have here a nice landscape, fresh air, food...  
“You call Lays and Coke food?” Another snort, this time accompanied by the famous Sam Winchester bitchface.  
“We also have cookies. With chocolate, I know you love them,” Dean didn't stop tempting. “ In the trunk!” he added, seeing that Sam immediately moved towards the car.  
“You want me to to take the Lays too?” Sam apparently had given up.  
“No, leave them for supper,” Dean decided, reaching for the bag of cookies his brother handed to him.  
“Yeah, 'cause the smell of onion on your breath is so going to attract the nymph.” Sam closed the trunk and joined Dean. “It's been three nights since we got here and still we have nothing. Maybe we've overlooked something?”  
“Or maybe you're not the Little Mermaid's type?”  
“Oh, great. So maybe you spend the next night chasing her, since no girl can resist your charm, and I'll finally have a good sleep,” Sam grunted.  
It was obvious from the tone of his voice that his brother hadn't had enough sleep that night, and he was not in best mood as a result, so Dean decided to drop the topic. Instead, he sat back, leaned his back on the windshield, and put his face to the sun.  
“Are you going to sunbathe?” Sam sent him a mocking smile. “Dude, it's only April and we're in Alaska!”  
“So what? A little bit of vitamin C won't hurt me.”  
“D.”  
Dean threw his brother a surprised glance, wrinkling his forehead when the sun rays pierced his eyes.  
“It's vitamin D you get from the sun, not C. D3 to be precise,” explained Sam patiently. “Okay, you sit here and catch your vitamins, I'm going for a walk.”  
“Just be careful with the bears,” Dean teased. “And leave the cookies!” he added after a moment with a mock terror, as the younger Winchester rose, taking the bag with him. Sam laughed wholeheartedly for the first time since he woke up, grabbed a handful of cookies from the bag and passed it on to his big brother.  
“You better be careful too, dude. It says on the bag that there's honey in these, and you know bears love honey.”  
“You watch too many cartoons, Samantha!”  
Sam shook his head with amusement and headed towards the forest.

 

***

_5 days earlier_

Dean stopped the Impala on the main street of the little town, just in front of the bar.  
“Look, man, real Alaska!” he exclaimed enthusiastically. “This place looks just like Cicely!”  
“Dean, you know Northern Exposure was filmed in Washington state?”  
“What?” Dean's expression reminded Sam of a five-year-old who has just learned that Santa wasn't real.  
“Yeah. I've read about it somewhere.”  
“Thanks, Sam, you've just ruined my childhood!” growled Dean, getting out of the car.  
“As far as I remember, when that show was on, you not only claimed that you were a big boy, but you also forbid me to watch, saying it wasn't suitable for children. I still don't know why, by the way.” Sam pointed out, laughing, as he followed his brother inside the bar.

The interior was kind of nice, especially if you liked the Wild West style; the walls were covered with bear skins and colorful blankets, and huge moose antlers hung over the bar. There weren't many customers inside. The bartender, an elderly man who looked like a real trapper, nodded his head as they entered, then turned his attention back to the young slim blonde girl sitting at the bar with a beer in her hand.  
“Look, Sam, it's Holling and Shelly!” Dean exclaimed with delight. He was answered by a quiet snort coming from the nearest table.  
“A Northern Exposure fan?” A young dark haired man with distinctly native features asked him with a friendly laugh.  
“I've seen a couple of episodes,” Dean answered with a grin. “I'm Dean, this is my brother, Sam. We're Chad Adam's cousins.”  
“Oh, you came because of his disappearance?” guessed the man. “Sad story...” He shook his head. “My name's Ed.” He offered his hand to the brothers. “Yeah, you heard right,” he added with a loud laugh when he saw Dean's expression. “But I'll have to disappoint you. I'm not particularly interested in cinematography and I was raised by my real parents, so no parallel with Northern Exposure's Ed, sorry. Oh, and your Holling and Shelly, in other words, Mick and Mandy are just a father and a daughter. Besides, we don't even have a moose here in town.”  
“Doesn't matter. I brought my own moose with me.” Dean's grin became even wider as he tried to ignore Sam's murderous glance. His brother sent him a stealthy kick in the ankle, then turned back to Ed, his expression never changing from deadly serious.  
“Did you know Chad?”  
“It's a small town. Everybody knows everybody here. Poor Sophie.” Ed shook his head again.  
“Sophie?”  
“Chad's girlfriend. She's completely broken. They both loved Alaska, worked hard to protect the wildlife, and suddenly something like that happens...”  
“Exactly,” Dean took up. “They say it was a bear.”  
“Yeah, they became somehow more frequent these last few months. Which is a bit strange, if you ask me. I mean, there's not even many bears here and they usually keep their distance. They already looked for the beast, but they didn't find anything.”  
“There was no body found, was there?” Sam continued the interrogation.  
“No. The previous guy's neither,” answered Ed. “But it's an old, thick forest. It's hard to move through some parts of it, so it'd probably be even harder to find someone if the bear dragged him deep enough,” he explained, but it seemed somehow half-hearted, as if he was trying to convince himself as well. “Why don't we sit down?” he invited after a short moment of silence, pointing to the empty chairs around his table.  
“No, thanks,” refused Sam before his brother even got a chance to speak. “We'd like to see Sophie, could you please tell us where she lives?”  
“Yeah, sure. She lives in Chad's house. The same that belonged to his parents.”  
“Sure.” Dean flashed him another wide smile. “But you know, we haven't been here for a couple of years now...”  
“Not much has changed, just a bit of new paint on the old buildings,” laughed Ed. “But yeah, you probably haven't visited too often, cause I don't remember meeting you two, and it's hard to hide things like family visits here. Two handsome cousins, I'm sure I'd have heard of you. Well, you turn right next to the church, then the second street left. It's a green, two-store house, fourth in the row, I guess,” he explained.  
“Thanks for your help. See you later!” Sam offered the young man his hand and then nudged his brother, whose attention was focused entirely on the girl at the bar. Dean sighed, sent her one last glance and obediently followed his brother out of the building.  
“Dude, local Shelly is so hot!” he said in a dreamy voice when they were back on the street.  
“Hotter than in the show?” asked Sam jokingly.  
“Hmm...” Dean scratched the top of his head with a serious expression on his face.  
“Don't answer,” snorted Sam. “You've always been her fan.”  
“Yeah, I still remember you preferred Maggie.”  
“I had to show that I had better taste than you,” Sam laughed out loud as he opened the car door.  
“To tell the truth, I loved them both. Totally,” admitted Dean sincerely, putting the key in the ignition. Sam shook his head with a mock contempt.  
“OK. Let's sum up what we know,” he said, back to seriousness, when they found themselves on the road again. “Four men vanish without a trace in only a couple of months. All of them last thought to be going to the forest, near the lake. No sign of them since, no bodies, nothing. Too many questions to blame it all on the bear attacks or drowning.”  
“From what we've found, there were no violent deaths here before, at least none that made it to the records. Any ideas what it could be?” Dean's eyes fixed on the left side of the street to find the right turning.  
“It depends on whether it attacks from land or from the lake. If land, maybe wendigo. If water, kelpie, kappa or some kind of water nymph?”  
“Like Little Mermaid?” Dean grinned, turning left and starting to count the houses.  
“No, like a succubus that lives under the water and seduces men only to get them drowned. It's even possible, I mean, look at the victim choice. All of them were fairly young and handsome.”  
The conversation ceased as the Impala stopped in front of a neat white fence.  
“I think it's here. A green house, fourth in row,” said Dean, switching off the engine.  
“Just, Dean...”  
“Yeah?”  
“Don't overdo it. That girl must be in a pretty bad shape.”  
“Who do you think I am, Sammy?” Dean winked at him and walked to the front door.

 

***

The door was opened by a petite blonde. She must have been busy in the kitchen when they knocked, because her blue track suit was spotted with flour. She looked at the brothers with surprise, apparently waiting for them to speak.  
“Uh, hi!” Sam started. “You're Sophie, aren't you? I'm Sam, this is my brother, Dean. We're Chad's cousins.”  
“Chad never mentioned you.” She eyed at them suspiciously.  
“He didn't?” Dean masterfully feigned a mixture of surprise, anger and hurt. “I know we haven't seen each other for ages, but come on! All those holidays we've spent together, the pranks we've pulled on our neighbors, you can't just forget such things! Right, Sammy?”  
Sam cast his brother a warning glance and took over. “We haven't kept in touch much these days, but as soon as we heard about Chad's disappearance, we knew we had to come.”  
Sophie nodded and moved back, giving them enough space so that they could come inside.  
“Come in. It's really nice to meet you. I'm sorry if I'm not too hospitable, it's just that...” she stopped, sending them a sad, shy smile. As a matter of fact, Sam could easily see that the smile was directed mainly at his brother. It didn't even surprise him that much. Dean had always attracted attention of the opposite sex, regardless of their age, occupation... in fact, at least from time to time, he attracted attention of his own sex as well. Dean has just had that something, which Sam wasn't able to define, that, wherever he went in, made all the people look at him with interest. Sometimes it helped in their work, sometimes it pissed Sam off, but in most cases it just brought a warm smile to his face, an inexplicable gush of affection towards his big hero brother.

“So, could you tell us something more? We just know he went into the forest and never came back” Sam asked, hoping he didn't sound too insensitive.  
“Yes, it was two weeks ago.” Sophie sighed heavily, sitting down in the big red chair. After a second she reminded herself about her guests and pointed them to the couch on the other side of a little coffee table. “Chad went on a hunt.”  
“Hunt? Chad was a hunter?” asked Dean with surprise.  
“Oh, come on, Dean” Sam interfered, hoping he was correct in his interpretation of what he had heard earlier, as well as of the decoration of the room. “Chad wouldn't hurt a living thing. Bloodless hunt. Photography.”  
“Exactly.” This time Sophie smiled directly at him. “He left in the early evening. He wanted to find a quite rare species of bird, which is active mainly in the night.” She stopped for a moment, fixing her gaze on the walls that were full of the pictures of various specimen of the Alaskan flora and fauna. “He went out and never came back.” She blinked quickly, trying to get rid of the tears gathering in her eyes. “They said he was killed by a bear,” she added quietly.  
“But you don't believe it,“ Sam guessed.  
Sophie shook her head. “Chad had a rifle. He didn't like the idea of shooting to an animal, but he usually carried it for safety, especially in the night. Besides, he knew this forest, knew how to behave in it, what to expect...”  
“So he wouldn't let Yogi Bear surprise him?” Dean smiled slightly at her.  
Sam cast his brother another warning glance, but, to his relief, Sophie laughed gently, so he went on.“Where exactly did he plan to take the photos?”  
“Near the lake.”  
Sam and Dean exchanged knowing glances. At the same moment Sophie looked at the clock and jumped from her seat.  
“Oh my, I completely forgot!” She circled the table and approached Dean. She leaned down, so close to him that he could feel her warm breath on his cheek. She put her left hand on his shoulder, and stretched her right hand, moving it behind his back. He felt a soft touch on his ribs, smiled dreamily, and then Sophie moved back, triumphantly raising a red bowl covered with a checkered cloth. “Pizza dough! It was supposed to sit for about half an hour in the warmth, but because of you it has been there much longer.” She met Dean's disappointed expression with a loud laugh, carefree and slightly mischievous at the same time, and for a moment she looked like a little girl, happy with a prank she pulled on her parents.  
“Pizza you say?” Dean suddenly realized how hungry he was.  
Sam, foreseeing his brother's plan, interfered quickly. “We won't bother you any longer...”  
“No, no, you've got to stay for dinner!” Sophie protested vigorously.  
“We don't want to be a nuisance.” Dean sounded extremely insincere.  
“Oh, come on, you don't think I could eat a whole pizza all by myself? You know, I'm still forgetting that I should cook only for one person now.” Tears glimmered in her bright blue eyes again. “I'm sorry.” She took a moment to compose herself. “Please, stay,” she asked them softly. “We're almost a family, aren't we?”  
Behind her back Dean sent his brother a triumphant grin. Sam felt his stomach rumble and he had to give up. He couldn't even remember when was the last time he ate a home-made pizza.

When the Winchester brothers finally got to their motel room it was already late evening. However, the home made pizza served by a beautiful young woman had left them both in pretty good moods for the remaining of the day, even though the next few hours they had spent interviewing the families of the other missing men. They didn't even argue about who will get the right to have shower first (of course it was Dean). Refreshed, they sat on one of the beds, Sam with a laptop, Dean with a beer, and decided to one more time go through all they knew. The role of the leader fell, like it usually did, on Sam.  
“So, we have three missing men so far. The first one disappeared in July last year. John Rowan, twenty-two, went fishing, never came back. The next one, Charles Carlton, aged twenty-seven, a hunter, went missing during a hunt, probably near the lake.”  
“It was in September, right?” Dean frowned, trying to recall the earlier conversation.  
“Yeah. His wife reported him missing on the fourteenth of September,” confirmed Sam looking at his notes.  
“She didn't look too sad though, did she?” Dean smirked.  
“Yeah, she hinted something about his 'female friend'” Sam tried to ignore his brother's grin becoming wider. “I guess she was pretty mad at him, but I don't think she could be involved in his disappearance. She just didn't look the kind.”  
“What about the next one, the one from December? Martin Slave, if I remember well. Nice name, by the way.” Dean sipped his beer.  
“Thirty-four years old, in the middle of divorce, but as his mother claimed, no party was guilty, they just decided to peacefully go their separate ways. It must have been stressful for him anyway, cause she said that walks in the forest calmed him.”  
“This one calmed him for good.” Dean smirked again, but soon went back to business. “Is it possible that he took his walks at the lake?”  
“Maybe.” Sam nodded. “Water is believed to calm people.”  
“And our cousin, Chad. Twenty-four, an amateur photographer. Engaged in the protection of birds at that goddamned lake.”  
“Exactly. They all went missing in the same area. We'll have to make a little trip to that lake tomorrow.”  
“Right. But now, tell me something more about these water nymphs. I only remember that they appear as beautiful naked girls and lure young men to join them in their life under the water.” Dean's expression suggested that he didn't think it such a bad fate all in all.  
“Close enough.” The younger Winchester put his “Professor Sam” voice on. “The nymphs are Greek semi-goddesses living in the places like trees, rivers, rocks. They are believed to be very beneficial to the nature, and they mostly just sing and dance, and take care of their habitat. And yes, they don't wear any clothes.”  
“Dude, finally something interesting! I'm so fed up with ghosts, werewolfs and other fuglies.” Dean smiled dreamily.  
“Hey, don't forget these beauties can be very dangerous. They are invisible to women, but if a man sees them dancing and hears their songs, he would inevitably be drawn to them forever. If they like him, he could be accepted as their companion, but even then they would slowly drain his life-force out of him. If not, most of their victims go out of their minds, not able to accept the world around them any more after experiencing such divine beauty. They usually commit suicides sooner or later.”  
“But can you imagine what it would be like to do it with a nymph? They must be great, with such an experience...” Dean winked at his brother with a grin.  
“Yeah, I can imagine. Something like being an odalisque,” snorted Sam in response.  
“A what?”  
“A woman in a harem. A sexual slave,” explained the younger Winchester patiently.  
Dean seemed to be considering the idea for a moment, then shrugged, apparently still seeing mainly the bright sides of the deal. Sam shook his head with an exaggerated pity.  
“Okay, so if it's a nymph, how do we deal with it?” asked Dean, back to serious.  
“Good question. The only way I've read about is to destroy its dwelling place. It's easy if it's a tree, but if we're dealing with a water nymph, it would be rather hard” explained Sam, worry written on his face.  
“We'll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Dean decided. “First we have to make sure it is a nymph, and if yes, if it lives in the lake or maybe one of the trees.”  
“Yeah. So tomorrow after breakfast we head to the forest.”  
“Good,” Dean agreed. “And now, Sammy, off to bed” he added, perfectly imitating their father's voice.  
“Don't. Call. Me. Sammy!” the younger Winchester growled, knowing for sure that his request will be ignored anyway.

 

***

When the Winchesters entered 'Holling's bar' (Dean firmly refused to call this place by any other name) the next morning, Ed was already sitting at the same table he had been the previous day. He waved at the brothers, inviting them to join him. The breakfast was delicious, and their companion friendly and entertaining, so Sam didn't mind the fact that Dean left most of the talking to him, concentrating his attention on the 'Shelly' serving them. To Sam's amusement, all his brother's attempts of flirtation were left unnoticed. The girl indeed smiled at him when she noticed his attention, but her smiles were studied courtesy rather than sincere interest. It didn't escape the youngest Winchester's attention that the waitress was upset about something, even though he had to admit she tried really hard to hide it. Although she was successful to a great extent, it didn't surprise him when they suddenly heard raised voices coming from the kitchen. After a moment Mandy walked out, stopped for a moment in the door, turned back and said angrily:  
“Don't worry, I won't tell Mum. But I'm doing it for her, not for you!” She ripped off her apron and ran out of the bar, slamming the door behind her. Dean gaped at her when she passed him, and Sam realized with amusement that his brother wasn't really aware of how little attention the pretty waitress had in fact paid him.  
“I don't know what has gotten into her.” Ed also looked after the girl with surprise. Then he shrugged. “Well, anyway. Would you guys excuse me, Lady is waiting for me.”  
“A lady you say?” Dean sent him a knowing wink.  
“Yeah. I promised her a walk, she's probably got impatient by now.” He laughed and rose from his chair.  
“See you later then,” said Sam, shaking Ed's hand.  
“Probably sooner than you think. This place's really a rathole.” The young man laughed one more time, weaved his hand in a goodbye and disappeared behind the door.  
“See, Sammy? A rathole, but still he managed to find a lady here,” Dean smirked with mock jealousy.  
After a moment of hesitation, Sam decided to ignore the fact his brother called him 'Sammy' again, and to put his brother's mind on the right track again.  
“Come on, we need to go too if we want to take a good look at the surroundings of that lake before it gets dark.”  
“Alright,” Dean agreed. “Besides, I'd like to drop in on Sophie on our way back.”  
“Is there something we forgot to ask yesterday?” Sam asked him.  
“Don't know. Probably not. But I'd like to see how she's doing,” Dean explained sheepishly.  
“Dude, but you remember we're not real cousins?” Sam mocked him. “Admit it, you just hope she's going to cook for you again,” he laughed.  
“Don't tell me you wouldn't like that. That pizza was awesome, wasn't it?” Dean licked his lips on the memory. “And the cook even more,” he added with a wide grin.  
“Hey, you're not planning to flirt with a girl whose boyfriend's just gone missing!” Sam reprimanded his brother.  
“Don't worry, Sam, I'm not going to do anything immoral,” Dean assured him. “But you know, it would be kind of strange if Chad's cousins didn't pay her any attention in such a situation, right?”  
Sam shook his head, again defeated by his brother's logic. “What about Mandy?” he asked, not wanting for his brother to have the final word. “I thought you were planning to ask her out.”  
“Shelly?” Dean smiled innocently. “I don't think she's in the right mood today. Besides, it's hard to ask a girl out if the only bar in the town is run by her father. Would be rather awkward.”  
“What about the obvious fact she didn't seem interested?” It was Sam who grinned this time. “Maybe you're not her type?”  
Dean sent him a how-dare-you-say-such-heresies glare, which only made Sam's grin even wider. Neither of them said anything else though; they drank the rest of their coffees in silence, and soon after they were in the car, headed into the Alaskan wilderness.

After two hours of driving and getting lost three times, the Impala emerged from the thick forest, and stopped in a small clearing, surrounded with trees on three sides and opening on the lake on the fourth. All Dean's sarcastic comments about Sam's map-reading skills were immediately forgotten, and they sat in complete silence for a moment, just contemplating the landscape that appeared suddenly in front of them. The lake wasn't very big, but neither was it small. However, the monumental snow-covered mountains that rose over it made it look more like a pond. The peaks reflected in the water, merging into one, and the whole scenery was so surreally beautiful that it reminded Sam of one of these picture postcards which looked so perfect they must have been manipulated in some way.  
“Hard to believe this one wasn't Photoshopped.” Dean apparently shared his brother's thoughts.  
Sam only nodded, still stunned not only by the beauty, but also by the magnitude of nature. Suddenly he felt so little and unimportant, which, considering his height, didn't happen often.  
“Alright, we have a job,” Dean reminded him after a moment. “We'll probably see this so much it'll make us sick.” He smiled, seeing his brother's dreamy expression.

They left the car on the clearing, taking only their guns and the EMF with them, and slowly walked along the shore. About ten minutes later they heard a sudden rustle somewhere close, and saw a glimpse of a big gray shape among the bushes. It moved quickly, and before Dean had a chance to react it leaped from its hiding place and ran towards Sam.  
“Sammy, a wolf!” Dean warned, reaching for the colt he had hidden under his jacket. To his dismay, Sam stepped forward, crouched and held out his hand.  
“Dean, it's just a dog!” Sam laughed out loud seeing his brother's anxiety. He let the excited animal smell his hand. It wagged its tail and started licking his fingers. At the same time they heard someone calling.  
“Lady, heel!” And after a few second Ed on a bike emerged from the trees. “Sorry, she's a little bit spoilt.” The dog eyed its master, then returned its attention to Sam, who was scratching it behind its ears.  
“Wait, THIS is your lady?” Dean asked, shocked.  
“Yeah. Did you think I had a date?” This time it was Ed who laughed out loud.  
Lady let Sam be for a while, and turned her attention to the older Winchester. Dean never was a big dog-lover. They reminded him too much of werewolfs and other similar creatures he hunted to feel perfectly comfortable around them. Nevertheless, he tried to hide his apprehension and let the bitch smell him.  
“Is it Husky?” he asked Ed.  
“No, it's Alaskan Malamute. But it's okay, most people can't tell them apart.”  
“They're both sled dogs, right?” Dean tried hard to ignore the wet rough tongue molesting his fingers.  
“Yes, but Lady is a typical couch potato, she's never done a day of hard work,” Ed answered him, looking at the animal with pride.  
“I can see,” said Sam. “She looks like a real lady. Don't you, pretty?” He smiled, and whistled gently in an attempt to divert the dog's attention from Dean. It was successful. Lady, happy that somebody was truly interested in her, wagged her tail even more energetically, and spread on her back, suggesting that nothing would make her happier than scratching her belly.  
“So, you decided to take a walk too?” Ed's voice suggested he knew exactly what they were doing there.  
“Yeah, we wanted to see the place Chad was last known to be in,” Dean confirmed.  
“It's not exactly here. The way the shore looks here, it would be even hard for him to hide with the camera. More to the east there is a perfect spot for birdwatching, I bet he went there. I can show you,” he offered. He went first, leading his bike, and the Winchesters followed, but Lady soon overtook them. She disappeared behind some bush, but a moment later she emerged, and waited for them. She did it constantly, running forward, barking happily, romping around, but always coming back. Ed seemed to know their whereabouts quite well, so they didn't have to follow the shore, but walked in a straight line through the forest. A quarter later the lake came into their view again. Ed stopped and looked around, uncertainty written on his face.  
“Are we lost?” Dean asked, noticing his expression.  
“No, I'm sure this is almost the place. I just can't recall that tree over there.” Ed pointed to a tall larch growing closest to the water, which was just being smelled by Lady. The young Native shrugged and stepped forward. The dog looked at him and barked. It circled the tree and barked once more, then trotted towards the lake, which formed a little bay there. The bank rose a bit, not really high, but quite steep. Lady stopped on this mini-cliff and gave out a long, hollow growl.  
“Hey, stay there! Don't you think about jumping in, I've just bathed you!” Ed called, trying to catch the dog. However, he forgot about the bike lying in his way, and stumbled over it, almost falling to his knees. Sam, who was closer, leaned down and grabbed Lady's collar, but at the same time she barked again and leaped forward. Sam lost his balance and together they fell down into the lake.  
“Sammy!” Dean yelled with terror, watching his little brother land in the water with a loud splash. Luckily for him the lake wasn't really deep there, and when Sam stood up the water reached only a little above his knees. Dean breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was just another reason why dogs couldn't be trusted. “You're okay?”  
“Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little wet,” Sam forced a laugh, trying to ignore the piercing cold.  
“Oh, no, I'm so sorry, she's usually so well-behaved,” muttered Ed at the same time, rushing to help Dean get Sam out of the water. “I've no idea what she saw there.” He started taking off his jacket, but Dean was faster. He covered Sam with his own precious leather jacket, using the occasion to make sure his brother was really fine. Ed, seeing he wasn't needed any more, turned his attention back to Lady, who was awkwardly trying to climb the bank that was too steep for her.  
“Damn it,” Ed cursed. He started taking off his shoes, getting ready to go into the lake to help the dog, which already started to panic a little.  
“Wait, I'll do it,” Sam stopped him. “I'm already wet anyway.”  
Together they helped the poor dog out of the water, but even then the animal didn't cease to bark and growl in the direction of the lake. In the end Ed needed to pull it away on a leash. Investigating the surroundings postponed, they headed quickly towards the car. Since Ed had also got wet pulling Lady out of the lake, the brothers offered to take him home in the Impala. They loaded Ed's bike into the trunk, with Dean constantly yelling at Sam to get into the car before he got a cold, and trying to divert their friend's attention before he discovered the Winchesters' arsenal hidden beneath a false bottom. They ended up with quite a big part of the bike still sticking out, but at least there was no threat of losing it, so Dean decided to leave it the way it was. Luckily, he had a couple of blankets in the trunk, so he could put one under Lady to avoid staining the upholstery with water and mud. It wasn't that easy with Sam, who was too big for the blanket to cover him completely, so Dean sent his brother warning glances every time he got too close to the cream-colored walls and door of the Impala.

 

***

“Will you stop acting like mother hen?” Seeing Dean entering their motel room with another blanket, Sam decided to finally rebel. “One more of these and I'll look like a friggin' mummy!”  
“Stop bitching, Sammy. You've just had a bath in freezing cold water in April in Alaska. You'll thank me when you don't get pneumonia,” Dean answered firmly. “Did you drink your cocoa?”  
“Nope. Too hot.”  
“It's supposed to be hot! You need to get warmer,” Dean insisted.  
“Yeah, but it doesn't mean I'm supposed to burn my tongue with it!” Despite his protests, Sam was forced to take the fourth blanket. “Dean!” he moaned in a last pathetic attempt to protest. “Where I landed it wasn't even deep. The water didn't reach higher than my knees!”  
“It wouldn't if you hadn't landed on your ass,” observed the older Winchester. “If you drink your cocoa, I'll get you a glass of whiskey,” he tempted.  
Sam gave up and decided to change the topic. “By the way, don't you think that Lady's behavior was somehow strange? I mean, they say that animals can sense the supernatural.”  
“Yeah, something must be in that lake,” Dean agreed, looking content as his little brother took a sip of the steaming cocoa. “We'll have to come back in the night, now when we know where to look. We need to be sure about what we are dealing with.”  
“Okay, but you'll have to lend me a jacket. I don't think that one is going to get dry enough, and the dark one is still covered with Louisiana mud.”  
“Which reminds me, we'll have to finally do some washing,” Dean laughed, sure that Sam had already noticed he'd been wearing the same T-shirt for three days now. “But Sam, I'm not sure if you should go there tonight,” he said with concern, looking at his younger brother still shivering a bit under the blankets.  
“Why not? Dean, come on, it's still a few hours till the night. I can sit here, get warm, drink hot cocoa... and whiskey, if you give it to me,” Sam looked at Dean with his best puppy impersonation.  
“You promise to be a good boy?” Dean grinned.  
“Promise. Now give me that damn whiskey!” Sam laughed.  
“Alright, kiddo. Here's your whiskey. Stay in bed, get warm, and call me if you need anything.” Dean put the empty mug he took from Sam on the table, and reached for his jacket.  
“Where are you going?” Sam asked with surprise.  
“To Sophie. I have just enough time to see how she's doing. Don't worry, I'm not gonna flirt with her,” he added, seeing the concern on his brother's face. “It's normal to be interested in the well-being of my lost cousin's girl, isn't it?” He grinned, although it wasn't a normal, one-hundred-percent-happy Dean grin. There seemed to be something forced there, something unsure, which worried Sam even more. “I said don't worry, I'll be good,” Dean promised, more seriously this time. “You better be too,” he warned and disappeared behind the door.

***

“Dean!” Sophie looked genuinely surprised by his visit, but she also seemed to be happy to see her unexpected guest.  
“Hi!” Dean sent her a charming smile. “I thought I'd drop by to see how you're doing.”  
“Come in,” she invited him with a warm smile. “I was just making apple pie.”  
“Apple pie?” Dean echoed her, his eyes bright. “I love apple pie! Were you expecting me?”  
“Yeah, sure,” the girl laughed. “You know, I love cooking, especially if I'm in a bad mood,” she explained more seriously.  
“In such cases I'd rather eat,” he grinned. He hung his jacket on the hatstand in the corner and drew a long breath, enjoying the appetizing smell that filled the house.  
“That's great, cause I need a poor victim who's going to eat all that. If I did it myself, that door would be too narrow for me.” Her melodious laugh filled the air, and Dean suddenly felt much more relaxed he had been feeling in a long time.  
“Where's your brother?” she asked him when they sat down in the cozy living room.  
“I think he's catching some cold. I left him in the motel with a warm blanket and hot cocoa so he'll be fine.” It surprised Dean a bit how glad he was that Sam wasn't there with him. I'm just paying her a friendly visit, nothing more, he warned himself.  
“Oh, I know how hard the climate here can be for someone from the south,” Sophie said, concern on her face making her appear even more beautiful to Dean. “I couldn't get used to these low temperatures for a long time. In fact, I don't think I'm fully used to them still.”  
“You're not from here?”  
“No, I'm from LA. I studied environmental studies. I came to Alaska as a volunteer and I met Chad here. We both loved nature, so what really united us at first was wildlife protection, but then we realized we had much more in common...”  
Dean nodded, looking at Chad's pictures taking up more than two thirds of the room's walls. See, Sammy, I'm just politely listening to her talking about her lost boyfriend, no need to worry, he smiled to his thoughts, recalling Sam's expression back in the motel.  
“You two were together long?” he asked, trying to cover his lack of attention, when he realized he got lost in his own thoughts for a while.  
“A couple of months. I came here last year, when the holidays begun.” She smiled a sad smile. “I'm the one who talked Chad into staying in Alaska. I convinced him there's so much to do here, that this was the place we were needed in. Maybe if we...” Her voice trailed off and Dean came to the conclusion that her good mood was just a cover-up of completely different emotions. He did it so often himself, played happy when deep inside he wanted to scream. Went out and partied on, when all he wanted was to hide somewhere deep and never come back. He felt so sorry for the girl sitting next to him. But he knew better than to address the topic openly... or maybe he knew less, because it was something he avoided so often he didn't even know any more how to do that any other way. So he ignored the tears filling her bright eyes and made a struggle to divert her attention from what was bothering her.  
“Yeah, it's been obvious Chad was gonna be a nature freak since he was a toddler. He wasn't even steady on his feet and already he chased ladybugs to put them into jars or tried to catch dragonflies that were bigger than his hand.”  
“Really?” There was a glint of genuine interest in Sophie's sad eyes.  
“Of course. But he wouldn't try to pull out their wings like other boys did, nothing like that. He loved to just observe them, see all the details, even the smallest dots on their wings, and when he took a good look, he'd always let them go in the end.” Dean smiled to the memory of little Sammy, flushes on his cheeks, running to his father or older brother to tell them about the pattern on some butterfly's wings, the color of some dragonfly or the length of some earthworm. “Although he once tried to eat an earthworm,” he added with a laugh.  
“Yuck!” Sophie wrinkled her nose in disgust.  
“I'm not joking. Dad... I mean, his dad, took it away from him at the last moment.” For a second Dean completely forgot it wasn't his brother he was talking about. At least not explicitly, because he shared much more similar stories with Sophie that afternoon, all of them coming from his childhood memories of Sam. The girl listened with fascination to so many new stories about her boyfriend's childhood, and Dean enjoyed sharing them, even though he had to be very careful not to mistakenly use his brother's name. At one moment a thought passed through his head that had Sam been there with him, he would have criticized his older brother for his behavior. But it wasn't that he was lying to the girl to attract her, was it? He was just slightly modifying the truth, and only to make her feel better. And, apparently, it worked. Sophie seemed to forget a little bit about her sadness without forgetting about the one whose loss made her so sad.

The talk continued long, the apple pie was delicious, and it wasn't until he got a message from Sam that Dean recalled he had a work to do that night. Not really eager to leave yet, he forced himself up from the couch, excusing himself with the need to get aspirin for his brother.  
“Poor Sam,” Sophie said, a genuine concern in her voice. “Wait, I'll at least pack some pie for him,” she offered and ran to the kitchen.  
Dean thanked the girl, slightly surprised when she kissed his cheek in return. She's treating you like a family member, he reminded himself. Back in the car, it occurred to him that Sam might really need some aspirin after his earlier bath in the ice cold lake, so he stopped at the gas station and bought a bottle of pills. That way his excuse wasn't a lie any more, but he also figured both of them may need it if they were forced to spend a few nights outside in the cold Alaskan wilderness.

Dean pulled up in front of the motel and turned the ignition off, reaching for the package laying on the seat beside him. He hesitated for a moment, but the temptation was too strong. He unwrapped it and caught the rich smell of the pie. There were four big pieces of it in the package.  
“Sorry, Sammy,” Dean smirked, taking the first one. He planned to eat just this one and bring the remaining three to his brother, but he quickly rediscovered what an excellent cook Sophie was. “You wouldn't appreciate this anyway,” he muttered and stuffed the next piece into his mouth. With a pang of guilt he quickly wrapped the last two pieces, smoothed the paper with his hand, and got out of the car. He made sure there were no crumbs left on his clothes, then he put his most innocent face on and reached for the door handle.

Sam had already crawled from the bed and now he was sitting on the couch in his warmest hoodie, laptop on his lap, waiting more and more impatiently for his brother to return. They had a job to do. If they didn't want to miss the nymph or whatever it was that haunted that lake, they needed to arrive there before it got dark. Meanwhile, the sun was already setting, and Dean was apparently too busy with his new hook-up to notice such details. It wasn't that Sam didn't like Sophie. She seemed to be a nice girl, but also a girl whose beloved boyfriend had just disappeared under mysterious circumstances. And “disappeared” was the key word here. There was no proof yet that Chad Adams was already dead. Especially if the creature they hunted was a nymph, there was a great chance that her victims were still alive and held captive somewhere. That was why Sam didn't like the idea of his brother getting too close to that girl. Besides, the older Winchester rarely treated his flirtations seriously; they were more like an opportunity to relax after a day of hard work to him. There were exceptions, of course, but even if one of them felt something towards a woman, both brothers knew too well it would never work out in their line of work, that they would inevitably finish the job keeping them in the place and hit the road again, looking for new monsters to kill, new people to save. There was no place for a stable relationship if you were a hunter and you had to accept it, suck it up and live on. And Sophie was definitely not the type of girl for one night, Dean must have known it as well as his brother, and the way he was drawn to her despite it all worried Sam even more.

Hearing the door open, Sam stood up and made a face, ready to scold his brother. To his luck, however, Dean had brought him two pieces of apple pie, which placated Sam for the time being, and fifteen minutes later the Winchesters were heading back towards the lake. Sam was wearing his brother's spare jacket, which was definitely too short for him and which, as he himself stated, looked as if he had borrowed it from his younger brother. That statement was enough to engage Dean into brotherly banter which continued for the rest of their ride.

 

***

_NOW_

Sam was walking slowly up a narrow path winding between trees and bushes. He knew the way almost by heart, due to how many times he and Dean had walked it during the past few days. All in vain. That first night they had been close to seeing the creature. They had felt the wind, sudden and strong, had seen it make the previously calm waters rise in waves, and the clouds move to let the moon shine through. The epicenter had seemed to be located in the very place Ed had brought them to a couple of hours earlier. However, as they had run to the spot, having to literally fight their way through the thickness of the forest, it had been calm and quiet as if nothing had happened there at all.

When the next morning they had come back to the town, cold and tired, they had learned that Mick, the bar owner hadn't returned home that night, and a few hours later his car had been found in the woods, not far from the road leading to the lake. The next two nights the brothers had spent wandering along the overgrown lake shore, but they hadn't heard or seen anything out of ordinary again. The only thing they had acquired during their nightly investigations was a few encounters with the Alaskan fauna (although, to Dean's disappointment, they hadn't seen a bear) and, in Sam's case, a runny nose. Days Dean had spent with either Sophie or Mandy, officially trying to offer them consolation after the loss of their loved ones, in reality hoping to find out something that could give the brothers any lead in the case, although Sam suspected there was more to his brother's intentions than just that. Sam, on the other hand, had been looking for any information connected with the lake, the forest surrounding it, and any deaths that had happened there. Sadly, the town was really small, and there was not much written record on its history, so he hadn't been able to find anything helpful yet. It seemed nothing out of ordinary had ever happened there until a few months earlier, when the men had began to vanish into the thin air. The small number of citizens had its disadvantages. Since the day they arrived everybody had seemed to know them, their names, the reasons for their visit; they had had been greeted on the streets by people they barely recognized, offered condolences and words of consolation or thanked for their care for Sophie.

Finally, the weekend ended and Sophie returned to work, so Sam wasn't surprised that his brother lost his interest in returning to the town for these few hours before the dark came and they would have to start everything all over again. Truth be told, he also liked the idea of just staying where they were, and going through all they already knew for the umpteenth time in peace, instead of being crammed with his bored brother in the small motel room or going to the only bar, which, despite the owner's disappearance, was the main place of gathering of the whole community. But, to his surprise, when he got back to the clearing the Impala was parked in, his brother was already inside, the ignition on.  
“Finally!” Dean greeted him. “I thought a bear's eaten you!”  
“You should've called if you wanted me back.” Sam shrugged. “Something's wrong? I thought you wanted to sunbathe.”  
“You were out of reach,” Dean explained. “It's too cold to sunbathe,” he added matter-of-factly, as if it wasn't him who had suggested it in the first place. “Besides, I've just got a call from Sophie. She wants to see me. She was crying.”  
“Oh, okay.” Sam decided to ignore the way his brother emphasized the last piece of information, as if he was expecting some comments or protests from him. “Drop me at the library, I'll look again, we must have overlooked something.” All in all, Sophie probably really needed a shoulder to cry on right now, and if it had to be his brother's shoulder? Well, fine, as long as it was only that. But, truth be told, whatever there was between these two, Dean was an adult, so was the girl, and no matter how worried he was, Sam had to ignore the situation and concentrate on their job. Well, someone has to, and since Dean is too busy... He smiled to his thoughts as he closed the car door and sent the mysterious lake one more look before it disappeared behind the trees.

 

***

Dean was sitting on the couch next to the sobbing girl, awkwardly patting her shoulder. He was taken aback by her outburst, she had seemed to be doing alright considering the circumstances. On the other hand, he knew very well that suppressed emotions needed a way out. Looking at her, sad and broken like that, he suddenly felt guilty. Yes, his interest in the girl was sincere; however, he finally was forced to admit to himself that he might have been using the situation a little bit for his own sake. That was why at that moment the gaze of Chad Adams staring at him from a big photograph on the desk made him feel much more uncomfortable than before. For the first time he wasn't sure how to behave and he wasn't able to do much more than offer a mumbled consolation and his unsure hand on Sophie's back.

Finally, Sophie calmed down, wiped off her tears and struggled to smile. “I'm sorry,” she said, her voice trembling. “I didn't know who to go to. They would never believe me.”  
“Why, what happened?” Maybe there's something more to it than just grief after all? Dean thought.  
“I...” She stopped for a moment, tightening her grip on a used Kleenex. “I have Chad's cell phone. He left it in the car that night. I couldn't bring myself to look at it earlier, but today I thought I should. I mean, what if someone called him and needed something important? So I recharged the battery and turned it on, and then I saw these messages...” She burst into tears again. “He had another woman!” she moaned. “Photography was just a cover-up, he went to the lake to see her!” She tried to control her sobs, but soon gave up and hid her face in her hands, crying even more violently than before.

His previous reservations forgotten, Dean pulled her to him and hugged her tight, allowing her to press her face against his shirt. Her tears soaked through it within a moment, but he didn't even feel it. He held her in his arms, rocking slowly until she calmed down. After a long while she pulled away, taking a deep breath, but even then he didn't release her from his embrace completely. Instead, he took another tissue and gently wiped her tears away. She raised her eyes to meet his gaze, and for the first time he noticed their color. They were dark blue with a shade of green that reminded him of the lake he had spent so much time at. They were huge and full of such gentleness and sadness at the same time it made his heart ache. Suddenly a thought passed his head that his long dormant dream of a home, a family, a woman by his side could finally become true. That thought remained in his mind, grew, made him forget about the job, the nymph, even about his brother. He just wanted this moment to last forever. He leaned down and gently kissed Sophie's lips. She didn't pull away, but when he was finished she shook her head and looked deep into his eyes.  
“Dean, how am I supposed to trust you after all this?” Her eyes once again became filled with tears. “I trusted Chad, trusted him with all my heart and he didn't care. How am I supposed to know you would be any different?”  
“I'm different!” said Dean firmly. “Sophie, I know I'm not an angel, but I'd never hurt you, never. Chad was a jerk, you can't let him destroy love for you.”  
“You say it now, but the moment you see a prettier girl than me you'll want to leave me too, like everybody did.” She pierced him with her gaze, suddenly sharp and fierce, but it lasted only for a second and then it was replaced once again by only gentleness and innocence.  
“I won't, I promise!” Dean desperately wanted her to trust him, to believe she was safe with him, because he would never ever look at any other woman.  
“You promise?” Her voice was low, almost menacing. It sounded like a warning. Dean, however, didn't see that.  
“I promise,” he said, ignoring the chills going down his spine. Sophie stood on tiptoe and gave him a long, passionate kiss, depraving him of the remains of reason.  
And then the phone rang.  
“Dean? I think I've got something. I'll meet you in the motel,” said Sam quickly. Dean wanted to tell him that it didn't matter, that everything had changed, but his brother hung up before he managed to open his mouth.  
“Go,” Sophie said with a gentle smile. “Talk to your brother. I'll be waiting for you.”

 

***

“Nymphs? An interesting hobby.”  
Sam raised his head and looked at the librarian smiling friendly at him. It was a nice old lady with rather short gray hair, which immediately brought to his mind another Northern Exposure character. Had Dean been there, he would for sure call Mrs Middleton 'Ruth Ann'.  
“I'm writing a dissertation about them,” he improvised.  
“Oh. I thought you were Chad Adam's cousin.”  
Sam cursed once again the little town's gossip system. “Yeah. But I thought if I'm already here, maybe I'd look if I can find any materials.”  
“I'm afraid you won't find much. It's not a big library, and what's here is mostly connected with local issues.” Mrs Middleton looked genuinely concerned.  
“Yes, I was wondering if there were maybe some local stories...” Sam ventured.  
“About nymphs?” the elderly woman asked with surprise.  
“Yes. For example water nymphs. Or anything similar.”  
“Well, you know, son, nymphs are creatures from the Greek mythology. I've never heard of similar beliefs among the local tribes, and I've lived here for almost thirty years.”  
“Oh, you're not from here?” Now it was Sam who was surprised. She seemed to fit so well into his mental image of a little town librarian. Or maybe it was that Northern Exposure association again?  
“No, to tell you the truth, I'm not even American. My parents came to New York when I was two. They were Polish. Funny you're asking, when I think about it now, because there are creatures similar to nymphs in the Slavic mythology. They're called 'rusalki'.”  
“Could you tell me about them?” Sam's eyes lit up with fresh hope.  
“If you're interested in an old lady's ramblings,” she laughed. Sam nodded energetically, so she sat in the chair opposite him and begun. “I remember for example this poem, a ballad by a nineteenth-century Polish poet, Adam Mickiewicz. It's called Świtezianka.”  
“What?”  
“Świtezianka. Don't worry, son, I'd be surprised if you were able to pronounce it,” she chuckled.  
“It sounds weird,” Sam confirmed with a laugh. “What is it about?”  
“It tells a story of a young man who's in love with a mysterious beautiful girl, whom he meets every night under a larch on the lake shore. When one night he asks her to stay and marry him, she makes him take a vow of faithfulness, warning him of terrible punishment were he to break it. He swears to be faithful, and she runs away from him, like she does every night. He wanders along the shore looking for her and suddenly he sees a rusalka emerging from the lake. She tempts him, dancing naked on the waves, singing and calling him to join her and lead a happy life with her under the water. He's so enchanted by her that he forgets about his oath and follows her into the water, and then the wind starts blowing. It chases the clouds away, and in the moonlight he suddenly sees that the beautiful lady from the lake and his mysterious girl are one and the same person. He hasn't endured the test, so she punishes him, turning him into a ghost forced to spend the rest of his life wailing under the same larch they used to meet under. It's a dark story, but really romantic, don't you think, son?”  
But Sam wasn't listening to her any more. He jumped up from his chair, mumbled a 'thank you' and ran out of the building. Mrs Middleton shook her head with mock anger, smiled to herself, muttering something about youth, and started to collect the books he left on the table.

***

When Dean got back to the motel, Sam wasn't there yet. Not sure what to do, he started pacing to and fro. He felt strange, almost as if he was drunk, but this feeling was way better. For the first time in his life he was really, truly in love. The world was beautiful when he looked at it with memories of Sophie, her eyes, her smile, the taste of her lips still alive in his head. If only Sam could fit in and stop trying to draw him away from the source of his happiness. The phone rang and Dean grabbed it, ready to scold his brother, but his attitude changed the second he heard Sophie's voice.  
“Dean, I need your help. Ed went to the lake. I've got a bad feeling, something's going to happen to him if we don't hurry,” she pleaded.  
“Sure, I'm going there as soon as Sam's back,” he assured her.  
“There's no time! Don't wait for him, I'm going with you. We'll meet at the lake. In the little bay under the larches.”  
“You shouldn't go, it's to dangerous!” he protested, but it sounded rather weak.  
“I'll be safe with you. Go, I'll be waiting for you there.”  
Somewhere inside, his hunter's instinct was telling him something was wrong. It told him there was something he was missing and he should pay attention to it very soon. Nevertheless, he ignored the feeling, forced himself to ignore the alarm going off in his head. Fear of Sophie being there all alone was stronger than anything else. Still hearing her pleading voice in his mind, he grabbed his jacket and left the room without giving a single thought to his brother, who was bound to be there any minute.

***

It wasn't far to the motel, but Sam met Ed on his way back from the library. He was forced to talk for a while with the young Native and give Lady some caressing if he didn't want his behavior to raise suspicion, so when he finally got back to their room, he was even more impatient to share his discovery with Dean. The problem was Dean wasn't there. From the lady at the reception he learned that his brother left a couple of minutes earlier and he was headed for the forest. It wasn't hard to guess his final destination, and Sam was furious with Dean for not waiting for him, but he was even more worried about his brother going to that cursed lake alone in the night. He tried calling, but the voice on the other side informed him that his brother was out of reach. He called Sophie, hoping there was some mistake and Dean was still at her house enjoying her cooking skills, but she didn't pick up the phone. Unsure what to do next, he went out and looked for Ed, who luckily easily agreed to lend Sam his bike, and soon after he was pedaling as fast as he could up a winding forest road, praying silently that his brother was okay.

***

Dean was running through the thicket, a gun in his hand, heading towards the little bay. There was a thousand emotions whirling in his head, worry about Sophie and longing for her the strongest of all. Finally he got to the meeting place, but the girl wasn't there. He stopped under a tall larch, panting heavily and looking around frantically. He felt strangely confused, as if he'd been hit in the head. After a long moment, he managed to think more clearly, and he decided to walk along the shore, hoping to find either Sophie or Ed, since he suddenly recalled the young man was the main reason he was there. He called their names, but an owl hooting ominously was his only answer. He took out his phone to call Sophie, but it turned out to be dead. He was already close to the clearing the Impala was parked in, so he turned around and headed back towards the bay. After a few minutes he heard the sound of the wind getting stronger, louder. The leaves, previously almost unmoving, danced in the wind, and soon their rustle was joined by the sound of the water, which started waving and raising, making the lake appear more like an ocean in the storm. Dean turned quickly towards it and pointed the muzzle of his gun at the water. It rippled violently, and suddenly he saw a bright shape emerging from it. As if under some kind of spell, he lowered down his gun and stopped, staring in fascination at the figure in front of him. It twirled around, as if trying to get rid of the water dripping of it, and then moved, half running, half dancing towards him, water splashing under its feet. Now Dean could see it was female, although the pale blue light radiating of her suggested she wasn't a woman flesh and blood. She was naked, covered only with foam and unnaturally long hair, appearing silver, blue and green at the same time. It was even hard to spot where the hair ended and the water started. She laughed melodiously and begun to sing in some strange, harmonious language. Dean didn't understand the words, and yet he knew exactly what she was singing about. His instinct telling him to act, to do something before it was too late subsided more and more, suppressed by the visions of a beautiful palace under the water, where time had no power, where he would be the king; the visions of a soft bed made of seaweed, and the rusalka waiting for him there, beautiful, naked and ready to obey him, always his, always alone, enjoying each other's company for ages. Somewhere at the back of his mind there were last conscious thoughts of Sam, looking for him, killing himself with worry, of Sophie, crying after another man betrayed her, and finally of the Impala, being driven by someone inept. Nothing, however, could compete with the beauty from the lake. He could already feel the cool soft waterdrops gently caressing his face, an augury of what awaited him further on. The rusalka was just in front of him. She stopped, reaching out for him, waiting for him to take a step further. Just a step, and then one more, and another one, deeper and deeper, but no fear of drowning, just the promise of a sweet prize awaiting him at the end. The wind blew even harder than before, pushing the clouds away to reveal the bright face of the moon. The light reached the dark waters of the lake. Dean raised his eyes with joy, finally able to see the face of the beautiful stranger. He could see now that her hair wasn't silver, but blond, her eyes big and blue, looking straight at him. There was no love in those eyes, just anger and reproach. He stopped dead in his tracks. The mysterious lady from the lake was Sophie.

***

Sam was panting heavily as he stopped and leaned the bike against a side of the Impala, which had been abandoned in a small clearing. He called his brother's name, but silence was his only answer. He cursed quietly, took a lockpick out of his wallet, and approached the trunk. Time was important, but he knew facing the creature unarmed wouldn't help him save Dean. Finally, he managed to open their hidden arsenal. Not sure what would kill the rusalka, he took out two guns, one loaded with salt, the other with silver bullets. He ran in the direction of the place they had previously been taken to by Ed, hoping he guessed right and the 'additional' larch noticed by their friend and barked at by his dog was in fact Chad Adams or some other victim of the creature. He was coming close to the little bay when he heard the wind howling and the water roaring somewhere in the short distance. He emerged from the thicket just in time to see his brother standing knee deep in the water, staring in bewilderment at a glowing figure dancing in front of him. After a few seconds Dean moved forward, walking deeper and deeper into the lake. Sam called his name, but his brother seemed not to hear or notice anything around him, so the younger Winchester started to run towards him. The water was already reaching Dean's shoulders when the rusalka finally stopped and held out her hand. The moon came out from behind the clouds and, as he had suspected, Sam saw Sophie's face. Dean must have recognized her as well, because he froze, staring with shock at the woman in front of him. He cringed and shivered, trying to avoid the hand reaching for him. Sam didn't wait any longer. He stopped, aimed both guns at Sophie and fired. The rusalka gave out a sharp scream and disappeared in the dark depths of the lake, sending a fountain of water into the air. A huge wave covered Dean, who, apparently still under the creature's spell, didn't even try to fight back. Without hesitation, Sam stripped off his jacket and jumped into the cold water. Luckily for the brothers, the wind and the waves disappeared together with Sophie, and he was able to reach Dean without bigger problems. He started towing the unresponsive older hunter towards the shore, but the moon hid again behind the clouds and in the darkness he missed the more accessible way out. Instead, he stumbled across the small cliff, the same one he and Lady had fallen from a couple of days earlier. He reached up, trying to catch one of the protruding roots, when suddenly he felt a tight grip on his wrist. Surprised, he jerked back, letting go of his brother, but luckily it wasn't deep there and Dean was able to stay above the surface without his assistance.  
“Easy, it's me!” spoke a voice from the darkness, and the mysterious savior illuminated his face with a flashlight.  
“Ed!” exclaimed Sam with relief.  
“Just give me your hand, I'll help you out.” With Ed's help, both Winchesters were soon laying on the grass, panting heavily. Sam shivered when the cool breeze met his wet clothes, but immediately he turned his whole attention to his brother. To his relief, Dean was conscious, although still pretty much dazed by the rusalka's magic. Ed handed Sam his jacket he found on the shore, put his own one on Dean's back, and together they helped the would-be victim to his feet and led him towards the Impala.

Ed's car was also parked in the same clearing. After helping a still dazed Dean into the Impala, the young Native moved towards it, but Sam stopped him.  
“Don't worry, I'm not running away,” Ed laughed. “I have two blankets in the trunk. Usually it's Lady who uses them, but I don't think you're going to be picky right now.”  
Sam thanked him and headed back for the Impala. A couple of minutes later, when all the three men were sitting in the warm car, both Winchesters wrapped in blankets, Sam finally asked the question that had been nagging him from the moment he saw their friend on the shore.  
“What are you doing here?”  
“After you left I thought you may need help, so I took my dad's car and followed you. It wasn't hard to guess where to look.”  
“So you knew about the rusalka?” Sam asked with surprise.  
“The nymph?” Ed wanted to make sure.  
“Not really, I think she's more like a succubus,” Sam explained.  
“Oh.” This time it was Ed who was surprised. “No, I didn't know. I just suspected something wrong was going on at that lake.”  
“But you saw her tonight?” Sam inquired. A nod answered him. “You don't seem particularly surprised. Most people would,” he observed.  
“Most of your kind.” Ed smiled. “My people have always believed in the supernatural. I grew up believing every tree, every rock has a soul. Why would I be surprised by a spirit of a lake? By the way, you aren't Chad's cousins, are you? Nobody in the town has ever heard of you.”  
“Nope,” Sam admitted. “We hunt things like the rusalka. Monsters, spirits, all sort of supernatural stuff, it's our job.”  
Ed just nodded, as if he had just heard that the brothers were salesmen, lawyers or something equally normal. “How do you kill her?” he asked matter-of-factly. “I don't think your gun worked.”  
“I'm not sure yet. A few hours ago we were still convinced it was a water nymph, which is a completely different kind of creature.”  
“I'll ask my grandpa; he knows a lot about such things,” he offered.  
Sam felt growing gratitude towards this man. However, for the time being, he decided the rest of the conversation could wait. They both finally stopped shivering, and Dean was looking much more like his old self, although he still kept very quiet and didn't even make any attempt at driving his baby. Sam thanked Ed once again for his help, waited for him to take off in his car, then followed in the Impala, dreaming of getting rid of wet clothes, of a hot shower and even hotter coffee.

Dean had already felt better before they found themselves back in the motel, but he still sat in silence, facing the window with a surprising attention considering the fact it was completely dark outside. Knowing his brother too well, Sam didn't try to encourage him to talk. Instead, he got lost in his own thoughts. Sure now that the rusalka and Sophie were one and the same person, he was wondering whether Dean's interest in the girl was nothing more than the result of her magic. He was sure that if he managed to prove it, his brother would feel much better, but the truth was he wasn't so convinced himself.

“How did you know?” When they changed into dry clothes and managed to get a bit warmer, Dean finally asked the question. Sam told him the story he had heard from the librarian and what he had guessed from it.  
Dean slowly nodded his head. “It all fits,” he agreed. “The second victim's wife was furious because she'd learned about his lover. The third victim was divorcing. Mandy had a row with her father because he had an affair. Chad also had someone.”  
Sam noticed his brother didn't reveal the source of that information, even though it was new to them. “The others probably were unfaithful as well,” he took up.  
“And then there's me,” Dean begun and stopped for a while. “I had my sins too,” he finally added, turning his gaze away.  
“Dean...” Sam started, but he didn't know what to say.  
“It's alright.” Dean sent his brother a bitter smile. “I was asking for it. You warned me about her, even my damn instinct was warning me.”  
“It isn't what I was warning you about!” Sam protested. “We couldn't know. And she put a spell on you!”  
“I know.” He didn't know. He was sure he had been under the spell that night, he remembered all the reason leaving him, his hunter's instinct screaming at him, unable to get to the surface. But before? He could have sworn he had felt pretty normal, he had been able to think clearly, and still he had been enchanted by the girl and he had really hoped, dreamed that something could happen between them, something bigger, longer. Even lifetime long, in fact. And he hasn't been completely blinded. He had been aware how hard it would be, almost impossible, yet all that time somewhere deep inside he had believed they could be together in spite of everything. He couldn't fully convince himself to believe that it had all been magic and nothing more. “Whatever,” he finally said, forcing himself to go back to business. “We have a monster to kill. And a couple of additional pines to turn back into guys.”  
“They aren't pines, they're larches,” Sam corrected him out of habit, not sure whether to be worried or relieved by his brother's behavior. “I think the spell could be undone if we kill the rusalka. The problem is we still don't know how to kill her. I don't think salt and silver worked, she screamed and hid under the water, but she didn't look dead to me.”  
“Do you know what she really is?” Dean asked. “I don't think she's a goddess or anything similar.”  
“I didn't have time to look yet, but I think she's a kind of succubus.” Sam reached for his laptop. “Let's see what we can find about them.”  
“Fine, I'll make some sandwiches then,” Dean offered. “It's going to be a long night.”

“Do you happen to know Russian or Polish?” snorted Sam an hour and a half later, looking at another web page.  
“Sorry, just Czech and Lithuanian.” Dean grinned.  
“Lithuanian would be useful too.” Despite everything, Sam couldn't help but smile.  
“Try Google Translator,” the older brother advised.  
“Thank you, Captain Obvious.” Sam sent him an annoyed look. “Okay, listen,” he said after a while. “The rusalky are Slavic demons. They are a bit similar to the nymphs. I mean they also live in places like trees, rocks, streams or lakes; they look like beautiful young women, usually naked, with long green or silver hair, and they attack only men. The legend says they're virgins who died before marriage.”  
“So they used to be humans, just like an average ghost? Maybe it's enough to just find their bones and torch them?” Dean suggested.  
“Maybe. But first we have to find someone who'd fit the description. A virgin, but not a child, at least a teenage girl, maybe older. I don't think it would be so hard in such a little town. Besides, we could always ask Ed.”  
“Ed? He knows what we do?” Dean asked with surprise.  
“Dean, he was there, at the lake. He helped us, don't you remember?” Sam eyed him with worry.  
“I remember most of it, but some things not very clearly,” the older Winchester admitted. He wasn't willing to continue the topic, though. “Alright, Sammy. We can't do much right now, so I suggest we go to bed. Separately,” he added with an impish grin.  
Even though he could see his brother was still putting on a brave face at least a little bit, Sam laughed out loud in answer.

 

**Epilogue**

The next day the brothers woke up to heavy knocking on their door. Sam was the first to get up. He opened the door, yawning, and Ed burst into the room with a wide smile on his face.  
“Guys, I've got her!” he exclaimed.  
Dean, who had just covered his head with the quilt, now almost jumped out of the bed. He didn't say a word, though, just fixed his gaze on their friend.  
“It's an old legend told by my people.” The young man dropped into a chair, still panting slightly, and began his story. “It says that one of the bravest warriors of the tribe went once on a lonely journey and came back home with a beautiful white girl. What was exceptional about her was that she came of her own will and with her heart wide open. She loved this warrior deeply and wanted to stay with him, but she gave him one condition. She said she wouldn't give herself to him until he adopted her faith. He loved her with all his heart too, so he agreed to learn about the God she was telling him about. As the day of his christening and their wedding was getting close, the girl went to the lake to take a bath. A storm came while she was there, and she drowned. The warrior was devastated when he found her body. Soon, however, he found consolation in the arms of another woman, and he forgot all this girl had taught him. I've known this legend for years, and I've never thought it could be true, but now...”  
“Sounds like our lady of the lake all right. What are we waiting for?” Dean exclaimed, a little bit too enthusiastically for Sam's liking.  
“We still need to find out where she was buried,” the younger hunter reminded him.  
“We know,” Ed announced with pride. “My grandfather took me to her grave today at dawn. It's hidden in the forest. You really need to know about it or you'd never find it, but it's there.”  
“Let's go then!” Dean stood up and reached for the keys.  
“Easy,” their friend laughed. “I thought that after last night's adventures you wouldn't feel like wandering into the forest again so early in the morning, so I told my grandfather the whole story and we dug out the bones. I have them in the car.”  
“Ed, you're awesome!” Dean flashed him a wide smile.  
“We definitely need to meet your grandfather!” Sam added.  
“I predicted that as well.” Ed grinned in response. “You're invited to dinner, and you've already slept through half of the day, so better get a move on.”  
“Give us five minutes.” The chance of a home cooked meal could always do wonders for Dean's mood.  
“Mine!” Sam shouted as he rushed towards the bathroom. He laughed out loud when, surprisingly, he managed to get there before his brother. When you have a problem, sleep on it, they say. Things often look better in the morning. It's funny how true it turns out to be, Sam thought as he pulled the shower curtain shut.

Thirty minutes later the Winchesters were back in the Impala, following Ed on a narrow, bumpy path. The dinner was delicious, Ed's grandparents extremely friendly and hospitable, and the combination of both made the brothers feel more at home than they had felt in months, if not years. The sole possibility of a discussion about the supernatural with people outside the hunters' circle, who were nevertheless convinced about its existence, was too surreal and tempting at the same time not to enjoy it. As a consequence, the exchange of stories and experiences went on and on, and, to their own surprise, the boys stayed for supper as well. When the darkness fell and the brothers finally set off to the woods with Ed and his grandfather, they were both in way better moods.

They drove through the forest in almost complete darkness, trusting Ed's grandfather to lead the way, and finally the narrow road led them to the lake, close to the place they had met the rusalka the night before. They descended to the shore, burned the bones, and accompanied by the old Native's gentle chant in a language neither of them understood, threw the ashes into the water. When the ritual was finished, Dean tried to crack a joke to break the silence that fell, but he soon gave up, and all four men just stood there, savouring the moment. The sky was cloudless, the stars reflecting in the calm waters. The owl was hooting again, but its voice seemed to Dean more cheerful than it had before. The landscape was so serene that it was hard to believe how much drama had played out there. The hunter turned around and eyed the tall larches.  
“Shouldn't the spell reverse by now?” He asked, disappointed.  
“Wait till morning, son. Magic is not like a computer. It needs time to work properly.” The old man smiled and for a short moment rested his hand on Dean's shoulder.  
“Yeah, you're probably right,” the older hunter muttered, feeling slightly ashamed, but also a bit honored.

He was right, it turned out. A few hours later, when the brothers got back to the town and decided to eat breakfast, they were greeted by Mick, safe and sound, and completely confused about where he had been the past few days.  
“Better go before you bump into Chad,” laughed Ed, who had just joined the brothers after hearing of another victim's return. The Winchesters thanked him wholeheartedly for his help, and said their goodbyes, promising their new friend to come and visit him as soon as they were free. Then, putting to practice their well-learned skill of packing extremely fast, they gathered their meager possessions, checked out of the motel, and left the town.

Soon afterwards, the old Native standing on a hill, partially hidden behind a tall larch, smiled warmly at the sight of a black Chevrolet Impala speeding south, and the faint sound of a rock song coming from the inside.

 _I know she waits below  
Only to rise on command  
When she comes for me  
She's got my life in her hands  
Lady of the lake_ *

THE END

 

* Rainbow “Lady of the Lake”


End file.
